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Activists urge ROC to comply with UN human rights covenants

  Source： Taiwan Today  03/12/2012 Legal experts and activists called on the ROC government March 9 to fast-track legal amendments so the country’s laws will conform with two international human rights covenants ratified by the Legislature in 2009. Up to 29 percent of all local laws considered to be in contradiction of the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are still waiting to be amended, according to Kao Ying-cheng, an attorney and member of the nongovernmental Judicial Reform Foundation. “All laws were supposed to be amended within two…

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NGOs urge Asia Pacific governments to end the immigration detention of children

NGOs urge Asia Pacific governments to end the immigration detention of children Regional meeting in Malaysia address concerns about the growing use of immigration detention and the need for alternatives to detention in Asia Pacific   Kuala Lumpur, 25th November 2011 Fifty non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 18 countries met on Thursday and Friday to address the growing problem of immigration detention in the Asia Pacific region. Increasingly countries are using immigration detention in the first instance to manage irregular migration, even where there are no valid security concerns. International research has found that immigration detention is damaging, costly and does…

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People have the right to parade

Taipei Times 2012/01/08 By Tsai Chi-hsun 蔡季勳Translated by Paul Cooper At the end of November last year, Taiwan Association for Human Rights chairman Lin Chia-fan (林佳範) was found not guilty in the court of first instance of violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) in the first instance. In the verdict, the judge conceded that this guarantee of peaceful assembly does apply to Taiwan.The judge cited the guarantee to the right of peaceful assembly stipulated in Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which, together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights…

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MOFA’s fingerprinting plan is anti-human rights

Group blasts fingerprinting plan as anti-human rights2012/01/02 21:39:28 Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) Taiwan’s new plan requiring migrant workers from four Southeast Asian countries submit fingerprint records as part of their Taiwan visa applications was criticized as being “discriminatory” by a rights group on Monday. The Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) blasted the plan, announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) late last year, as being a sheer violation of human rights and running counter to the spirit of the two major United Nations human rights agreements that President Ma Ying-jeou signed into law in May 2009. The new…

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Activist acquitted on protest charge, pushes for reform

Taipei Times, page 3By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter Human rights activists yesterday celebrated a court decision declaring Taiwan Association for Human Rights chairman Lin Chia-fan (林佳範) not guilty of violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), but continued to press for the law to be amended. Walking out of the Taipei District Court building with a smile, Lin was greeted and surrounded by his cheering supporters. “I have been declared not guilty, however, the Assembly and Parade Act, which restricts people’s freedoms of speech and of expression is still around,” Lin said outside the courthouse. “We still have a…

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Joint Statement on Condemnation to the anti-democratic speech of formerpremier Hau Pei-Tsun

Joint Statement on Condemnation to the anti-democratic speech of former premier Hau Pei-Tsun (see Chinese version) The former premier of Taiwan, Mr. Hau Pei-Tsun (郝柏村), made a public speech to memorize Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石), dictator of Taiwan from 1949 – 1975, at Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hal in 30th October 2011. He said, “Martial Law era had been necessary because there were communist spies everywhere in Taiwan, so we had to take harsh measures at that time Although there were few cases of injustice, it was not resulted from the martial law”, Mr. Hau added. Without harsh measures, Taiwan would not…

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Groups push for revision of Assembly and Parade Act

[Taipei Times Oct. 5th, 2011] Human rights groups renewed their call yesterday for the government to revise the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), saying it infringes on basic human rights. Led by the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the groups gathered in front of the legislature in Taipei and urged the lawmakers to review the proposed revisions to the act during their current session.They also asked the Council of Grand Justices to respond to a request for a constitutional interpretation of the act filed a year ago. Several clauses in the act, particularly Article 4 and Article 6, have stirred…

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Open Letter to the Government of Taiwan on the resumption of executionsunder the death penalty

根據日前新聞報導，台灣政府即將於國慶日後執行另一批死刑，雖然法務部長否認，但新聞報導的來源來自於法務部高層，且法務部長也不否認台灣會繼續執行死刑。 總部位於巴黎的國際人權聯盟(FIDH)及總部位於泰國曼谷的亞洲人權與發展論壇(Forum-Aisa)得知此新聞後，立即與其會員組織台灣人權促進會(TAHR)共同發出公開信給馬英九總統。(…閱讀信件全文中文翻譯) Open Letter to the Government of Taiwan on the resumption of executions under the death penalty (click the link here to see the full-text document) His Excellency President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)Office of the PresidentNo. 122, Sec. 1, Chongqing S. Rd.Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, TaiwanFax: +886-2-2383-2941Email (Secretary General) jlwu@oop.gov.tw 30 September 2011 Your Excellency, The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and our member organization the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) write to you today to express our grave concern on the resumption of executions under the death…

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Foreigners being unfairly detained, rights group says

Taipei Times Tue, Sep 27, 2011 Several civic groups yesterday called on the Control Yuan to look into dozens of cases of prolonged pretrial detention of foreigners and to reprimand government agencies for negligence of duty.Holding various posters, including one that read: “Foreigners in Taiwan are not granted human rights as they are outside the protection of the law,” the groups urged the government watchdog to address the system that discriminates against aliens.The Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) said that at the Taipei detention center alone — one of four centers nationwide that hold foreign nationals — dozens of…

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[Joint Statement] Concerning China’s judicial injustice ; Protestingthe numbness of Taiwan government

Joint Statement byAmnesty International Taiwan, Cross-Strait Agreement Watch Alliance, Taiwan Alliance to End Death Penalty and Taiwan Association for Human Rights On June 23, 2011, Amnesty International (AI) launched an urgent action to prevent the execution of two men – one of them a Taiwanese citizen, Lien Sung-ching – who are currently facing a death sentence in mainland China. With specific regard to the case, AI particularly pointed out the significant flaws in the judicial process and the controversial methods used to authenticate evidence